My favourite class of the year is very nearly upon us: Journal your Christmas. I would love for you to join me and so many other scrappers in this holiday adventure.

Journal your Christmas started from a personal journal I kept just for me, as I tired to rekindle the magic of Christmas in what had otherwise been a rather unglittery time. It worked. I found myself remembering exactly why I loved the holidays and how they could bring hope to the darkest of winters and I realised the magic of Christmas did not belong to children alone. Christmas can be magical at any age, no matter what the circumstances.

Journal your Christmas became an online class in 2004, and has continued every December since. That means this is our eighth year of reclaiming Christmas on our own terms, celebrating the very best of the season and taking the time to enjoy both Christmas present and our favourite memories from many Christmases past. I am so very happy to welcome those who have been writing their Christmas memories for those past seven years right along with brand new faces and everyone who has joined us between then and now. I truly look forward to this project all year long.

What is Journal your Christmas?
Journal your Christmas is an online scrapbooking class to celebrate the holiday season. It starts on the first of December and finishes on the sixth of January, with thirty-seven daily prompts sent by email.

Each prompt is a full-colour PDF file you can view on your screen (on your computer, iPad, smart phone or anything else that lets you view such files) or print onto paper. Each daily prompt follows a specific theme of the day, with the thirty-seven days covering all sorts of holiday aspects, from food and decorations to music and gifts. Every day there is something for you to consider and ideas to make the writing come easily. The topics can be applied to this year for documenting the current Christmas or you can get nostalgic with your Christmas memories – and most crafters write a bit about both.

The daily prompts are delivered to you at the same time each day by email, so you don’t have to spend any time logging into a website to download each day’s content. Should you have the time to chat with other participants or share your work, there is a private message board for class participants, and you can spend as much or as little time there chatting to other crafters enjoying the holiday season. Each prompt includes several examples of pages created in response to that very topic, so you can see a range of crafting styles (including paper and digital pages) on the same theme. You can gather ideas from any of them or go in your own unique way entirely. There is zero pressure to make anything in the same style as any of the examples, including mine. Everyone and every style welcome!

How much time do I have to devote to this project?
You can devote as much or as little time as you like. Some participants create a entry or a page every day, and that’s a fab way to follow the class prompts. However it’s certainly not required. Since the class has permanent membership, I encourage scrappers who don’t have the time or the desire to create something every day to just choose the prompts that speak to you (or your schedule) most. You can make a few pages this year, a few pages next year and so on to fill a whole album. Or you can make a mini album every year. Or something that falls in between. You can blog your writing (either to the world or just to yourself) and choose later to add something crafty or not. You can take pictures daily and put together a photobook at the end of the project. We’ll cover many ways to make this work, and you can choose the options that work best for you.

What if I don’t scrapbook?
You are still very welcome to join us. Reading each day’s prompt, you might choose to respond in the form of a blog post or a plain written journal. My original book was nothing more than penned words and a tiny bit of colour here and there, so this can certainly be useful! Some participants follow the class from a photography angle, and use it as their inspiration to take a series of meaningful photos throughout the holidays. And still others read each day’s prompts just to be more mindful and aware of Christmas and use the class purely to keep them in the right mindset for enjoying the season for its real merits rather than letting commercial pressures and the stress of a busy calendar overtake their Christmas magic.
Truly, anyone is welcome.

What is included in Journal your Christmas?
Journal your Christmas includes permanent membership – so you sign up once and can join in as many years as you would like at no additional cost. That also means once you sign up, you can access the prompts and extras from earlier years at any time, via the class forum. Those extras include printable accents, digital kits and photography challenges.

For 2011, class includes:
…thirty-seven daily PDF prompts for writing and crafting
…thirty-seven daily PDF prompts for holiday photography (like getting an online photography workshop as a bonus)
…exclusive digital kit for this year, including layered page templates, papers, titles and accents
…exclusive printables for this year, including a basic page framework in two sizes
…two exclusive crafting videos with a range of techniques and ideas
…private forum to chat and share your work
…online chat to start the project (of course your attendance is optional)
…bonus offers from some of my favourite websites
…£1 donation to The Girls’ Fund via Plan, helping provide education and well-being to girls in difficult circumstances around the world.

And I’m happy to say the class is the same price as last year.

How do I join Journal your Christmas?
Easy! Just choose your currency and click the button below for your choice of UK pounds or US dollars. If neither of those is your currency, you can still join us! Choose either and the payment will convert automatically when you make your payment.

You can pay by credit/debit card or Paypal account. If you would like your prompts to come to a different email address than the one on your Paypal account, please be sure to leave a note in the message to seller section with the email address you would like to use. Orders can take up to 24 hours to process, though we are usually quicker. If you haven’t received your class registration after 24 hours, just email me and we’ll make sure your registration is completed and ready for you to get started!

If you participated last year, you don’t need to do anything to join us again. This week you will receive an email with some updated info and reminders for you.

Can I gift Journal your Christmas to a friend?
Yes, of course! Just use the same button to join, and leave the email address of the friend in the notes field of the payment. Or if you miss that step, send me an email. If you would like me to send a personal email to the gift recipient to reveal your gift (or keep your Secret Santa identity a secret), I am happy to do either. Just let me know.

Do I need to prepare in advance?
You don’t need to, no. Some crafters really like to prepare a book in advance. Some don’t. This year, I’m scheduling an online weekend of Christmas crafting, and that includes preparation projects for Journal your Christmas. It’s coming up this weekend!

From this coming Friday to Sunday, stop by shimelle.com for special projects, videos and tutorials all with a Christmas theme. You’ll see the exact preparation I have done for my album this year, and also some ideas from other class participants. Everyone is welcome: you do not need to be signed up for Journal your Christmas to take part in the online scrapbooking weekend. Though I hope by the end of the weekend you will want to join us for a whole thirty-seven days of such crafty Christmas goodness, of course!

Any other questions?
If you have a question I haven’t answered, feel free to ask in the comments or send me an email.

If you have participated in Journal your Christmas and there are pictures of your project online, please leave a link in the comments! We would love to see your album.

I very much hope you’ll join me and journal your most magical Christmas yet!

I have three posts showing my album from 2010 and also 2009 – they can be seen:
http://beckysburblings-beckyg1.blogspot.com/2011/01/and-some-more-christmas.html
http://beckysburblings-beckyg1.blogspot.com/2011/01/lilttle-piece-of-christmas.html
http://beckysburblings-beckyg1.blogspot.com/2009/11/that-christmas-feeling.html

Can’t wait to join in again this year – I did the album in 2007 and 2008 too, but didn’t blog about it! This is my favourite one of the year – makes me feel all Christmassy! Can’t wait for the weekend to start making my album :)

Cindy Says:
7 November 2011, 16:44

Going to Walt Disney World this year at Christmas time. Going to use this format to make a mini book of decorations, songs etc from our trip. Can’t wait to see this in my inbox again this year.

Yay!!! I’m so excited to join in this year! Gotta wait till I get paid to sign up, but I’m marking my calendar… =)

Melissa Says:
7 November 2011, 18:27

I’m so excited about this!! I will be home recouperating from hip surgery on Nov. 23rd so I will have plenty of time to complete JYC!!

Carolynleah Says:
7 November 2011, 19:00

Getting myself all organised ready to start – fourth time for me and I can’t wait!

brittany Says:
7 November 2011, 19:19

I’m going to sign up this year. Sounds fun.

Mel Says:
7 November 2011, 19:29

Woohoo! I just signed up for the first time. I can hardly wait!

Natalie G Says:
7 November 2011, 19:55

Second year for me and I’m so excited – I loved this last year! I did a 6×6 album last year but this year I’m doing 4×6 format but in a 12×12 album. I figure it will be easier to print pictures that way! I have my supplies all ready and I’m looking forward to this weekend to get a start on the prep!

Jennie Says:
7 November 2011, 20:20

Second year for me too and I can’t wait. I even booked a weekend off work to join in the prep. Shame I just realised I booked off next weekend instead of this one. I am a div. Never mind, i’ll do it then instead :)

Angela Says:
7 November 2011, 20:59

Just signed up. I just came back from my walk. I was listening to my last Paperclipping episode. I have never documented christmas because i have no kids and there are NOOO children in my family. Yes Wierd. None the less I now realize to document the only time of the year my brothers and sisters get together. So wish I had started sooner. Looking forward to your prompts do document these memories.

This is great. My Mom died in Sept. and I am really dreading this Christmas. But this could help still make it nice and special.

Lisa-Jane Johnson Says:
7 November 2011, 22:05

So excited about this! I really want to take the time each day to reflect this year. Are there any supplies it would be a good idea to have ready for the weekend? http://comeinsidemycrazyhead.blogspot.com/search/label/JYC

Looking forward to it! Still working on my plan but I’ll get there. Can’t wait to get started. :)

Rena Says:
8 November 2011, 09:20

This is my fourth year of JYC. Never felt confident enough to share my pages before, but hoping to do so this year. Always enjoy this class, and can’t wait to get started.

Cindy Says:
8 November 2011, 12:17

This is my second year of JYC Shimelle and I can not wait…so excited! I am still working on last year’s one though, but it is coming along nicely! I took so many photos and when reading through the written notes I made it brings it all back as it certainly was magical!

I´m so much looking forward to this class again. I will not make an every-day album this year though. I have an album I will use for those years I will only make some entries. On my blog you can find earlier years albums and my preperations for this year, just check the “labels” for “Christmas album”.

Can’t wait Shimelle. This is my 2nd year and my album was made before October. How keen am I?

Lena K Says:
9 November 2011, 15:21

Will I be able to see content from previous years if I sign up this year?

Alison Says:
10 November 2011, 17:37

This will be year three of JYC for me – it was May (I think) before I finished JYC 2010 – but finish it I did and Im planning to finish JYC 2011 earlier this time!!!
I am sooo looking forward to this weekend – I love Christmas and JYC is the start of Christmas for me – thanks Shimelle – this is always an awesome class – actually all your classes are awesome – but I think JYC might just be my favourite!!!!!!

Sharon (Sherelm) Says:
10 November 2011, 18:21

YEAH!! Can’t wait to do this again!!

And I’m anxiously waiting to see what you have in store for us this weekend!

Are you going to be running Journal Your Christmas this year? I have been planning to join this time but am not sure where to sign up in case there is a new listing or link I need to use. I sure hope you are I am looking forward to it and was planning on it being the Christmas project I do this year. Thank you!

melissa-Lea Says:
28 October 2014, 12:35

If i sign up for this now will it all still work fine? x

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